Vacancy rate of private homes climbed to 6.1%

Despite the strong leasing demand.

According to Savills, despite the strong leasing demand, the vacancy rate of private residential units climbed to 6.1% from 5.6% in the previous quarter. This reflected a total of 17,459 vacant private homes island-wide, a significant jump of 10.3% QoQ from 15,833 units in Q2/2013.

In Q3/2013, a handful of major projects, mainly located outside the city area, such as The Interlace on Depot Road (1,040 units), Tree House on Chestnut Avenue (429 units) and Cape Royale at Sentosa Island (302 units), received their Temporary Occupancy Permits (TOPs).

In addition, about 6,305 and 19,302 residential units in the pipeline are scheduled for completion by 2013 and 2014 respectively.

As leasing demand might ease off next year, the new housing stock may not be adsorbed as quickly, and thus, the number of vacant private homes is expected to increase further.